Ignorance is progress

Ram : ( Adjusting the belt he couldn't see below his tummy ) Ignorance is progress .Absolute ignorance is rapid progress . Whatdyasay ?
Shyam : ( ridding the collar button of its anchor and loosening his tie ) Preposterous . Ridiculous . All progress is built on knowledge and learning .
The taxi turned onto Tulsi pipe road , the connect to Bandra from Parel .
Ram : Not quite so . Think about it . If Columbus knew he wouldn't reach America , would he start at all ? If Alexander knew he would get malaria , would he move a muscle ? They haden't read history , seen Magellan maps , studied Flemings theories on pencilin or listened to leadership speeches on battle preparation or read Homers the Illiad or Odyssey . That lack of information spurred progress , led to discoveries of a new continent , new methods of warfare and birth of new civilizations - America and Greece .
Shyam : The drivers for such quests were different . It was an individual need not societal so you can't sweep society into the generalization .
Ram : The ability to take a risk leads to progress . The word 'Risk' implies less knowledge , for if all was known wheres the risk ? Look at what happened yesterday . The ex-Nasdaq head Bernad Madoff has run a $50 bn scam . How did he manage to do it ? Wasn't an Enron collapse the start of a lot of regulation and governance ? Who forgot to implement ? Who pays the price . Harshad Mehta did a massive bull run sabotage - mind you , he paid back 550 cr over 5 days to various banks . One man . Then heavy duty regulations came in , there was a bear hug on the markets . Seven years later another broker - another scam - Ketan Parekh . Again more regulations . Five years later - Telgi - 50000 cr gone . The stamp scam was 100x Harshad , but measure the $ 1 trillion economy against a bankrupt govt in 1991 and it's the same size .
The car crossed the small flyover that spared one from the Dadar flith below . Traffic was dense and three km stretch took over three quarters of an hour .
Ram ( looking out of the half-rolled down window cursorily ) : Throughout history , its the same example . Napolean attacked Russia in winter in the early 18th century and paid a massive price - defeat , demoralization and end of french dominance . A century later , Hitler attempts the same - loses his ground to Russia in a winter attack and loses the war . Yet another example - Soloman bros , the great investment banking firm in the late 80's filed for bankruptcy after years as the largest bond trader in the world and brought the US economy down quite a few notches . Today Lehman , Bear Sterns , Merryl Lynch are doing the same . If they had learnt , the world would have been different . But in the process , millions have been made rich , millions have lived a life , enjoyed homes , fulfilled aspirations . And millions have forgotten again . More money is being pushed into the system , to force people to pull our their credit cards again , to leverage assets to buy another house they don't need , to think of a car they can never afford and help another million somewhere in the chain make real wealth .
The taxi slowed down further for the next kilometer or two .
Ignorance , my friend , is real progress .
Ram : Remember the old line from the movie Anadi - ' Sikandar ne Porus se ki thi ladai , to mai kya karoon ' ?
Shyam : Sure
Ram : Thats a guy who would make progress , not bogged down by historical facts or improbalities . Think of this . We have had a good and maybe slower journey today because we didn't have a clue on traffic on tulsi pipe . Had we known , we would have taken a train . And maybe lived the same mundane sleepwalking life , we live everyday . Maybe not seen the new malls , the new highrises on tulsi pipe , the new wealth being created , the new showrooms . That's probably what the Mumbai grind does , the train travel , the lack of information , the mundaneness , the selfishness , the acceptance , the realisations sort of keep your head down , so you can take in this harsh city and yet not break down . Till one day , the tide turns , and Shyam mark my words , the tide does turn - thereafter , you take on this city - richer , enriched , wealthier and content .
Shyam : Maybe . Now that you set me thinking....